Melly, Unyielding (Lockets And Lace Book 4)
Page 11
“Oba!” She took Obadiah’s hand in hers and held it against her cheek.
“Melly.” He coughed and tried to raise his head, but then let it fall back. “You’ve always been like my own daughter. Couldn’t bear to watch Boyd kill you.” Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Them diamonds are yours. They’re in the mattress at the wagon. Boyd and I were heading there when your cowboy showed up.”
Melly cast Thatcher a glance and then looked back at the old man. “Shh, shh ...” Melly’s tears overflowed, and she cradled him as his pupils grew large and black, unseeing.
“He’s gone,” Thatcher said. He tugged her elbow and pulled her to her feet.
Uncle Dob panted beside them. “I got him.” He put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Sunny approached quietly and lay at his feet.
Melly threw her arms around Thatcher, and he winced in pain but pulled her close. He gave a nod to Sam. “If you can saddle Johnny Bell ...”
Thatcher didn’t tell him Obadiah was raising his hands in surrender, that Obadiah had allowed him to break loose, to save Melly. Later, he’d ask Melly not to tell him either. It’d be a heavy load for Sam to carry if he knew.
Sam turned to him, and his eyes widened, as if he noticed his injuries for the first time. “You’re hurt. We’ve got to get you to the doctor.”
Thatcher attempted a grin. “Yep. I’ll need my horse. Please.”
Epilogue
It was three weeks before the doctor allowed Thatcher to step foot out of bed. It took another few weeks for his strength to return. The middle of winter had set in by that time, and the snow flew fast and thick.
Thatcher and Melly sat in the hotel’s dining room, by the window. They watched the snow flurries while sipping their coffee.
Melly reached for his hand. “I’ve been needing to tell you something.”
Thatcher stroked her hand, now enclosed in his. “Yes?”
“I don’t know if you heard Obadiah’s last words. He had some diamonds, in a leather pouch. He said they were mine.” Her face became pinched and white.
“Does that worry you?”
“Yes, because those diamonds were given to him, in payment for the things he did. I don’t want any part of them.”
Thatcher smiled. “Well, you don’t have them, do you?”
Melly eyed him suspiciously. “Do you know something about them?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I found them, the day I came across the wagon.”
She frowned at him, looking more beautiful than ever in her new lace blouse. “William Thatcher Rainer! Don’t tell me you’re planning on keeping them?”
He shrugged. “I thought about it. I know you wanted to travel on down to Texas, to see your sister. We could buy a place near her.”
She smiled and then frowned again. “I don’t know whether to hit you or hug you.”
The look of contentment that shone in her eyes brought a smile to his lips. He leaned across the table to hold both her hands in his. “Melly, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to be my wife.”
“But the diamonds ...”
He squeezed her hands gently. “We can sell them and use the proceeds in a way that I think will please you.”
“And how is that?” She tilted her head, her eyes still suspicious.
He didn’t answer right away. She’d probably always have issues with trust. He’d have to be patient with her and not tease her. He spoke gently. “Instead of buying a ranch, we could open a business with the money, a detective agency. Our job would be to track down the rest of Boyd’s gang, find the girls they took from their families.”
She looked thoughtful. “That’s not a bad idea, although it would involve a lot of traveling. If we do this, I’m going with you.”
“Of course. You’re a good rider.”
Her eyes sparkled, those beautiful eyes that had ensnared him. “I would like that. My sister Joy ... we need to find her.”
“She’ll be first on our list. So, we got us a plan. We’ll go down to Texas, meet with your sister, Abby, and then open our business. That suit you?”
“Yes, it does.” Her smile warmed his soul.
They continued holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes.
Uncle Dob came in with Sunny and took a seat without being invited. He’d made a deal with the hotel so his dog could stay with him. The dog settled under the table. Uncle Dob glanced from one to the other and laughed. “So, when’s the wedding?”
“Wedding? Who said anything about a wedding?” Thatcher grinned at Uncle Dob.
“That besotted look says it all.”
Thatcher laughed and waited for Melly to respond.
She glanced shyly at Thatcher and smiled. “We can talk to the preacher tomorrow?”
“Why wait that long?” he replied. He was on his feet, pulling her up. “Let’s go find that preacher man right now.”
She giggled, and right there, in the middle of the dining room, he pulled her into his arms. “Thank you for finding me, Melly Harperson.”
And her warm lips yielded to his.
Thank you for reading
Melly, Unyielding!
This book is the fourth book for the Lockets & Lace multi-author series brought to you by some of the authors who blog for Sweet Americana Sweethearts.
Each book in the
Lockets & Lace
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LOCKETS & LACE BOOKS
by
Sweet Americana Sweethearts
Blog Authors:
0.The Bavarian Jeweler by Zina Abbott
The Lockets & Lace series prequel:
Sent to America in 1849 to avoid inscription into the Bavarian army preparing for war against Prussia, Wilhelm Mueller, a master jeweler and watchmaker, goes with his father’s promise that he will always have a little touch of Bavaria with him. His British cabin mate on the ship who knows German helps him learn English. He meets some of his fellow passengers, including a group of Irish refugees escaping the potato famine. The lace made by a certain young woman captures Wilhelm’s attention as much as her pretty face and curly hair.
Upon landing in New Orleans, he finds everything is new in his adopted country, including his name. After sailing by steamboat up the Mississippi River, he stops at what was in 1850 the crossroads of America. It is there he holds to a touch of his homeland by opening his Bavarian Jewelry and Watch Repair shop. Over the decades, as he becomes know for a particular kind of jewelry, he realizes he has gained more by coming to America than what he left behind.
1.Oregon Dreams by Patricia PacJac Carroll
Tired of being a secondhand daughter to her aunt and uncle, Hope Castleberry sets her heart on going west to Oregon to find her father. She desperately wants to truly belong to someone. Unfortunately, the wagon train won't take single women. When a handsome young man bound for Oregon stops at her uncle's blacksmith shop, she believes her prayers have been answered.
Darren Thorsten watched his family get on the boat to return to Norway. He chose to stay and go to Oregon to homestead a farm in the rich land. Before he arrives, he must have a wife to get enough acreage to make his plans work. He promised his mother he'd marry a Scandinavian girl with blond hair and blue eyes to keep his heritage pure.
She's determined to get him to take her west. He only sees her as trouble but finally agrees to take her after she tells him she'll help him find a wife
. He’s pleased with his idea but didn’t expect to fall in love with the dark-haired girl with brown eyes.
2.Silent Harmony by Caryl McAdoo
Orphaned by the Civil War, three sisters struggle to keep the family farm solvent. Eldest, Lucinda must mother her deaf daughter, Harmony and mediate between her dueling siblings, Servilia and Melody. The sisters’ fragile truce is shattered by the arrival of the handsome Ezekiel Sheffield, coming to establish a school for the deaf. Miracles, mayhem, and marriage ensue, but nothing ever comes easy.
3.Otto’s Offer by Zina Abbott
In 1868, Otto Atwell has a 160 acre homestead near Abilene, Kansas and a limp as a result of an arrow shot in his low back while with the 16th Kansas Cavalry on the Powder River Expedition in 1865. What he didn’t have was a wife. Then again, what woman would want to marry a cripple?
Libby Jones comes to Junction City as a mail order bride. Not only does the man who sent for her reject her, he tries to sell her to the local brothel to recoup his fee. Otto offers to marry her, but she rejects him in favor of a job with his relatives.
Will Otto’s offer still stand when trouble from Libby’s past catches up with her?
4.Melly Unyielding by Abagail Eldan
Melly is a woman with secrets. Thatcher is the man with enough patience to unlock them.
For fifteen years, Carmella Harperson’s life has been confined to a couple of acres in the middle of a large forest. She’s alive but hopeless, each day a struggle.
William Thatcher Rainer’s past haunts him as he hunts down the man who destroyed his life. His days are filled with memories of the carnage of war; his nights with nightmares of the death of his wife.
On the road, to find the man responsible for the misery of so many, they must work together and learn to trust.
Neither is prepared for what they find at the end of their journey.
5.Lockets Full of Love by Heather Blanton
In 1867 Juliet Watts and her husband Hugh are caught up in a vicious Indian raid. On the verge of escaping, though, Hugh realizes Juliet is not wearing a locket he gave her. Risking his life, he heads back to their home to retrieve it and stubborn Juliet follows. Both are captured and Hugh is killed. Juliet survives but now despises the locket and wants nothing else to do with it. She also harbors a deep sense of betrayal with Hugh and God over the whole event. Robert Hall, the young soldier who saved her, however, promises to hang on to the locket in case she ever wants it back. Ten years later, Juliet and Robert meet again in St. Joe, MO where Juliet runs a saloon. He gives her back the locket and she accidentally discovers a secret compartment, but not one easily opened. A trip to the Bavarian Jeweler reveals that Hugh was keeping secrets. A key hidden in the locket starts Juliet and Robert on a journey of mystery and discovery. The closer she gets to the truth about her dead husband, the closer she gets to untangling the lies surrounding Robert. Will her heart survive the revelations?
6.Tending Trouble by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Traveling west to become a mail-order bride is the most adventurous act Bostonian Imogene Franklin ever did. Unfortunately, the groom chose another so now Imogene must make her way on her own. Dreading the idea of returning home to continue raising her siblings, she is reduced to waiting tables in the Dorado café.
Guilt hangs heavy over Reggie Othmann—ever since he brought home a childhood illness that claimed both his parents’ lives. The ink is barely dry on Reggie’s degree when he arrives home in Dorado to establish a medical practice. All he’s wanted since he was ten years old is to help people, but the townspeople have been without a doctor for so long, they don’t flock through his doors as expected.
An illness sweeps the town, and Reggie is overwhelmed, fearing he’s not qualified to heal them. Imogene steps in and together, they work hard to prevent anyone from dying, spending days together. Is their emotional tie born of the closeness of the ordeal or perhaps something more?
7.Chasing a Chance by Angela Raines
Edwin 'Win' Markum has loved Mary Winters since they were children. When she married another, Win left to make his way in the world. Now, through a chance encounter with an old friend, Win learns that Mary is a widow and living in a town that has been overrun with an outlaw gang. He leaves his business and heads out to help Mary, for he has never stopped loving her and carries the locket he bought for her as a reminder of that love.
8.Disarming Amy by Sandra E Sinclair
Amy Wheeler has her life mapped out. She’ll marry her fiancé, move east and start her new life in Maine. The secret contained in the belly of a fish will halt those well thought out plans, and change the course of her life.
Eugene Collart is an obedient son, and sole heir to a growing dynasty. The problem is, the things his father wants for him, are at odds with what he wants. If Eugene wants to live a life governed by his own rules, and go against his controlling father’s wishes, he must strike out and find his own way in life.
Fate throws these two together. Their futures are aligned but sparks fly, antipathy grows, and emotions run high as they are thrust unwillingly into each other’s lives.
Complications mount up. Eugene and Amy fight their attraction for each other amidst the animosity and burning passion raging between them.
9.Pearl’s Will by Sophie Dawson
Will Miller doesn’t know what to think when the lovely young woman faints in his jewelry and watch repair shop—except he wants to help her any way he can. Widow Pearl Ward, struggling to survive, needs to sell the watch-locket given to her on her eighteenth birthday. When he learns she’s expecting, he proposes. Will Pearl’s feelings for her late husband stand between them? Can they build a life together with his mother dead set against them?
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SWEETHEARTS OF JUBILEE SPRINGS BOOKS
by
Sweet Americana Sweethearts
Blog Authors:
1.Perfectly Mismatched by Linda Carroll-Bradd
To escape her family’s shame, socialite Aurelia Northcliffe is running to a new home and a new name. She runs into Prosperity Mine Manager Declan MacNeill who prides himself on following rules to the letter.
2.Ellen’s Lesson by Patricia PacJac Carroll
She's a blond, blue-eyed beauty. (Well, not exactly.) He's a handsome, prosperous gentleman from a good family. (Yeah, not so much.) With their letters at odds, what will Tyler and Ellen do when they meet and discover the truth? It's a mail order bride mess.
3.Aaron’s Annulment Bride by Zina Abbott
Believing she’s unworthy to be any man’s wife, Andrea Dalton marries Aaron Brinks so he can get title to a mining company house. But now she wants an annulment. Can he convince her to stay?
4. The Sheriff and the Miner’s Daughter by P. A. Estelle
Sheriff Jim Hawkins wants to know why Charlene is looking for some crusty old miner. Then there is the mule.
5. Minding Benji by Sandra E Sinclair
Prudence Fairchild went from riches to rags. Austin Alwin must marry soon to inherit. Neither anticipated Benji.
6. Cat’s Meow by Zina Abbott
Catherine Everett loves tall, lanky miner, Harold Calloway. She wants to marry him, but there is one “meowly” little problem.
7. Bargain Bessie by Zina Abbott
Bessie Carlson, a confirmed spinster, meets Zeb Jacobson, a successful Monarch Bend rancher who is NOT pushing forty.
8.A Good Man Comes Around by Heather Blanton
Abigail Holt has a list of qualifications for her groom. Oliver Martin doesn’t measure up. But sometimes a good man comes back around.
9.Perfectly Unscripted by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Is the shared danger the lure between these individuals, or did Rilleta and Wit discover they have much more to offer one another?
10.Blind Affection by Sandra E. Sinclair
Broken and scarred by the tragic events in their past. Can Lily and Wythe heal and build a loving future together?
11,Dead-Set Delphin
ia by Zina Abbott
Delphinia is dead set on being married within a week before her father can track her down. Bennett is dead set on continuing to muddle through life on his own.
12.Gambled Pride by Sandra E Sinclair
Beg Wilson is running from his past. Rachel is chasing her future.
13.Perfectly Unacceptable by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Jared Manning has been turned down twice and is taking no chances. Dina has been left with no other options.
14.Captured Heart by Sandra E Sinclair
Steve Kelly’s Mail Order surprise!
15.Evasive Eddie Joe by Zina Abbott
Cowboy vs. the miners – who will marry the bride?
16.Hope Eternal by Sandra E Sinclair
She wants forgiveness. He’s trying to protect his wife.
17.The Christmas Outlaw by P. A. Estelle
It’s almost Christmas Eve, the day of her wedding. How can the happiest time of her life become the most terrifying?
GRANDMA’S WEDDING QUILTS BOOKS
by
Sweet Americana Sweethearts
Blog Authors:
GRANDMA'S WEDDING QUILT Series on Amazon:
1.Grandma’s Wedding Quilts –The Prequel by Kate Cambridge
The fate of the museum where Hannah Quinn scored her dream job will rise or fall on her next exhibit. When a trunk with two quilts is donated to the museum, Hannah's boss thinks she's wasting her time chasing down the history of the quilts, but Hannah knows there's something special and a story that demands to be told. Along with her friend Callum, her investigation leads to discoveries that threaten the foundation of all she holds most dear.
2.Kizzie's Kisses by Zina Abbott
Running from hostile Indians attacking Salina, Kansas in 1862, feisty Kizzie Atwell runs into freighter Leander Jones traveling the Smoky Hill Trail. Will the two joining forces to prevent the Fort Riley Army captain from requisitioning their beloved horses for the Civil War-era cavalry lead to a more romantic bargain sealed with a kiss?